Developer Wilson Bowden has submitted a planning application for 11 additional industrial units at Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale, ranging in size from 3,000 sq ft to 15,000 sq ft.

Designed by DLA Architects, the units will sit on plots D3 and D4 of the business park and will provide 61,000 sq ft of industrial and office space in total.

The units are being developed speculatively and are targeted at SMEs, according to Kingsway.

Construction work is expected to start in spring next year with the units available to rent from early 2019.

Other businesses at Kingsway, which has been brought forward by a joint venture of the Rochdale Development Agency, Rochdale Borough Council, the HCA, and Wilson Bowden, include Asda, EON, JD Sports, and Source Bio-Science.

A 40,000 sq ft warehouse at the site was also bought by Cleland McIver Lifestyle in October this year.

The 420-acre business park off the M62 includes a 216,000 sq ft warehouse, completed last July by main contractor Bowmer & Kirkland. The speculative unit was backed by a £18.5m investment from Standard Life, but is yet to be let.

Damian Cooke, operations director of Rochdale Development Agency, said: “Kingsway Business Park has already attracted big brand names such as JD Sports, which has recently extended its operations here by a further 630,000 sq ft. However, an equal priority for the Partnership is to address the requirements from local and regional occupiers.

“Our in-house teams carried out extensive research and after speaking to both local and national agents we realised that there was a gap in the market for units under 20,000 sq ft. We are confident that these units will generate a great deal of interest and in turn, further boost the local and region’s economy.”

Alongside the 11 industrial units, an application has also been submitted for a five-turbine gas power plant just off the business park by client Balance Power.

Designed by Space Architects, the power plant will be built alongside the M62 at the southern edge of the business park, on land currently used as horse pasture. The land is owned by Balance.